Disease

COVID-19

The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surged past 5,000 on Saturday with the total number of cases rising to more than 140,000, according to the WHO. About 68,000 victims have recovered, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the virus. What is of concern is that recovered victims may have 20 – 30 per cent less lung capacity than before.

The virus has also spread to several countries on the African continent, with Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Guinea, Mauritania and Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) all confirming their first cases on Friday and Saturday.

USA – President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, opening the door to providing what he said was about $50bn in federal aid to fight the disease.

Spain – The Spain Ministry of Health has seen COVID-19 deaths more than double since Wednesday. Health officials report 122 deaths Friday, up from 54 on Wednesday. More than 80 deaths have been reported in Madrid alone. To date, the total case count has risen to 4,231.

Italy – Italy reported reported an additional 2,547 coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. This brings Italy’s outbreak total to 17,660. The death toll in the country is now 1,266, up from 1,016 deaths yesterday.

Iran – The coronavirus has killed another 97 people in Iran, pushing the death toll to 611 amid 12,792 cases, Iranian state TV said.

Ebola – DR Congo

It has been over 21 days since the last confirmed case of Ebola virus disease (EVD) has been reported (Figure 1). On 9 March, the last 46 contacts finished their follow-up. These are important milestones in the outbreak as over one maximum incubation period has passed without any confirmed cases of EVD. However, there is still a high risk of re-emergence of EVD, and a critical need to maintain response operations – as outlined in the WHO recommended criteria for declaring the end of the EVD outbreak.

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